Tuesday 19 August 2014

Dorset Holidays :: Part 3

Hello Lovelies,
on Sunday night I slept much easier and the next morning... Monday, we woke to sunshine.....that's one of my favourite things on holiday....opening the curtains and seeing a bright new day.

Eldest and I headed off to the shop straight after breakfast. The harbour looked as lovely as ever in the early morning light............


and we found another short cut...this one was super cute..........


when we passed the play park it was empty so I took some photos to show you...isn't it great..............


This part is my favourite. I may have joined eldest, swinging back and forth while standing on the thick rope at the bottom............


it was great fun.

Behind the harbour at West Bay there is a river where you can hire rowing boats for a gentle paddle. it wasn't open when we passed early in the morning, but that gave me chance to take some pictures of the cute little hut where you pay............


Wow, those hanging baskets are really something, and I loved all the sweet quotations...........


I was also intrigued by this building. It's lovely that the area still has some of the buildings linked to it's maritime history..........

The sign says that this was a salt house, used for storing the salt needed for the local and Newfoundland fishing trade. It's now a community hall.

 Our caravan is on a large site just behind this building. The vans are rather packed in, but there are nets for privacy and I can just see the top of East Cliff through the kitchen window.....that makes me happy.

It's clean and cosy....and I brought bunting and crochet to add a homely touch..........


The children are keen to head back to Lyme Regis as they loved the beach there so much on Sunday.

Yes, of course we could go.....I'm longing to explore a little further anyway. We set up on the sand and Mr BM and I headed towards the shops.........

Trying hard to ignore that ominous black cloud

We climbed the steep path thorough the lovely gardens and gazed down upon the beach and harbour looking pretty in the sunshine............


At the top of the hill, all short of breath, we came across this pretty corner, with a resting cat.........


and beautiful Dahlias..........


The shops here are all individual and the buildings are delightful...........

Yikes, that sky is really black now.

We gazed at cheerful pottery.........


and the super pretty, bunting festooned high street...........

with blue sky and the sea in the distance.

But then the rain came......a real downpour. Mr BM and I stood in a doorway with lots of other people. We wondered how the rest of our group on the beach were fairing...............


After a few minutes in eased and we continued down hill.....past shops laden with stripy goodness......


And yummy cakes.............


Through this cobbled passage we were almost on the seafront............


But then the heavens opened again......I wonder if the rest of the U.K. had rain like this.......maybe Bertha was not letting us of as lightly as we thought............it was freakishly heavy..........


Bouncing of the ground and making rivers everywhere.........


We were forced to wait again........hoping our group had found shelter too. They had actually decided to go in the sea initially, as they thought it was just a shower!
 Then the thunder and lightening came and we knew it was time to make a dash for the beach and then the car........grabbing armfuls of wet stuff and running as fast as we could with drippy wet shivering children.

The drive back to West bay was horrid....rivers of water on the road, more thunder and lightening  and even hail.

Then, early afternoon, the sun came out. Time to try and dry off all our wet clothes and beach stuff...........


I did spend that sheltering time enjoyably though.....browsing and buying this post card in the first shop........

It's by Janet Bell....I love her work.....and though it's actually of Looe in Cornwall it reminded me of Lyme.

Then in the second shelter I visited the National Trust shop and bought this coaster of the Harbour in Lyme.

Sadly I can't find any info on who the artist is, but I love the use of patterns and bright colours.

By mid afternoon we were wandering West Bay harbour again. The children had seen lots of folk crabbing and were keen to give it a go too.


In the past we have had lines with little bait bags that were OK, but you often lost your catch before you could land it.

This time we bought THIS type from one of the little cabins around the harbour. They worked brilliantly with a bit of ham in the bottom to tempt the crabs.

Within minutes the boys and their cousins had caught the first specimen. He soon had LOTS of friends in that bucket.............


We were crabbing from the pier and walking back to the caravan after a happy couple of hours ( all catches safely returned to the sea ) I loved the late afternoon light on the harbour.............



West bay was turning out to be a perfect holiday destination.....It's even got a visiting T.V. crew to watch across the river. Those super bright lights were for the shooting of the latest series of Broadchurch......

see a close up HERE

We generally eat picnics or simple meals in our caravan whilst on holiday....but this evening we enjoyed the treat of a yummy meal in one of the pubs around the harbour. I loved the stone floors and huge fireplace. I'm sure it's a wonderfully cosy place in the winter........


And who can resist a thatched roof.

What a roller-coaster day that turned out so well in the end.
Jacquie x

Edited to Add :-
Thank you Sarah for letting me know who the artist behind my coaster is. It's Caroline Tucker. Find her HERE

16 comments:

  1. Such a fabulous holiday you had and boy I know all about how the weather can change rapidly lol Here is Oz it can be crazy and four seasons in one day lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. looks gorgeous..that's the fun of English holidays, never knowing quite what the weather will bring !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like you had a lovey time despite the rain!
    I didn't realize there was going to be another series of Broardchurch, I shall look forward to that

    ReplyDelete
  4. At least you enjoyed yourselves despite that awful rain. We had it here in Northern Ireland too! The weather has settled down a bit - though still plenty of showers. But the good summer weather is gone, I fear. Autumn is upon us!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Another lovely day. So long as the rain doesn't last too long it's quite bearable I think. My little people loved crabbing too. I really love the ratty quote, I shall remember that one. You have reminded me how beautiful Dorset is, I haven't been there for a while, but I'd love to visit again soon. Enjoy the rest of the week Jacquie. CJ xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. As annoying as the rain is its all part of making memories on holiday in England isnt it ?! Lovely pictures as always.....TFS XX

    ReplyDelete
  7. hello jaqui
    thank you for the beautiful pics of your holiday it's really a nice place of england. your crochet looks wonderful.
    enjoy the rest of the week,
    regina

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a lovely day - who cares about the rain.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for sharing your lovely day with us. What's a little rain? It just helps make good memories. Your bunting made me smile. We do like to make our nests homey no matter where we are don't we?
    Blessings.
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a lovely holiday, your photographs as usual are amazing and capture each scene perfectly.
    Love the little row of cottages up the side street, the rainbows and the dark sky bringing out the colours of those little houses.
    Ha ha we are not beaten by weather here in the UK are we.

    ReplyDelete
  11. How lovely, in spite of the rain. I love the design on the lamp posts. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have missed your posts on Dorset as I haven't been on the internet much lately! The artist of your coaster is Caroline Tucker she produces some wonderful colourful items of local scenes.
    Sarah x

    ReplyDelete
  13. lovely to see your holiday photos Jacquie. Lyme Regis is lovely isn't it. I wonder if you went in the fossil shop? Glad you managed the weather. Crocs and macs are the order of the day! Like your souvenirs. X

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jacquie, Dorset is a part of the UK that I have not yet visited. These posts from you reinforce my wish to get there, eventually.

    I loved the slope of the street of the town, that dark (full of rain) cloud's advance on the area, the tea shop's pastries...I would have tried each one of them, the sea shell being part of the street light design, well...just all of what you showed us.

    Thank you so much for keeping my enthusiasm level high. I do imagine that summer is the best time to visit Dorset...but let me know if I have got it all wrong. xo

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you for sharing these lovely pictures and for letting me know such a beautiful part of Great Britain I've always red about. It's really a magic place!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks, Jacquie for such nice photos, showing us your holiday adventures! The rain looks quite heavy, we've been having it here in Belgium as well, lots of torrential downpours! Seems like the summer is almost over now. So it's great that you had such nice sunshine as well. Looks like you really made the most of everything!
    Ingrid xx
    http://myfunkycrochet.blogspot.be

    ReplyDelete

I always love to hear from you , thank you for taking the time to leave a message.